CyberSight Reconfigures Under Nine Dots Name - Brief Article

Brandweek, May 14, 2001 by Janis Mara

I-shop CyberSight is repositioning itself and will now be known as Nine Dots. The newly reconfigured company on Wednesday will launch a redesigned corporate Web site that will highlight the company's expanded offerings.

In October 2000, the 7-year-old, Portland, Ore.-based interactive agency acquired interactive marketing firm Nine Dots, and then purchased direct marketing firm Martin's Direct & Loyalty Marketing last January. The name, site and marketing realignment are part of the company's evolution, according to CEO Andrew Shakman.

"CyberSight was a name that served us well. But we've outgrown it. The problem was that the word 'Sight' implied that we only do Web sites. We do build sites but we're also a full-service interactive marketing company," said Shakman.

The addition of Irvine, Calif.-based Nine Dots brings a market research element to the mix; the company developed a special technology, Hypertesting, that tests Web site usability as well as customer preferences.

Toronto-based Martin's Direct adds a direct marketing element to the company's offerings. Recent multichannel marketing efforts include a direct mail piece with a CDROM linking back to the company's Web site, developed in a recent campaign for TD Asset Management.

Jeffery Martin, Martin's Direct's former president and CEO, is now vp of direct marketing for Nine Dots and retains his leadership role at Martin's. The office will remain at its present location in Toronto, as the original Nine Dots office will remain in Irvine. Craig Holland, former president and CEO of Nine Dots, becomes vp and managing director of the newly restructured Nine Dots and will continue to lead the Irvine office.

Shakman declined to say how much was paid for the two acquisitions. The company formerly known as CyberSight had a projected revenue of $17.5 million in 2000, a 94.4 percent increase from 1999, and employed a total of 160 people after the acquisition. The total number of employees in the company now is 120, Shakman said. In the past several months, a number of people were laid off, accounting for the lower figure.

While Shakman would not give specific numbers as to the company's earnings for the first quarter of 2001, he acknowledged that "obviously, the sector is flat. We are consistent with the sector, we're planning on a relatively flat year."

Shakman decided to take on the name of the acquired Nine Dots because the name "represents a brain teaser, a puzzle that can only be solved by thinking unconventionally," he said. "Similar to doing a rebus or crossword puzzle, it's a drawing of nine dots, and the challenge is to connect them without lifting the pen from the paper."

According to Shakman, the company's new Web site, www.ninedots.com, will combine the elements of the three companies into one site and "will allow clients and prospective staff members to learn more about us."